A new action movie is out in theatres looking to help movie
lovers properly start off their summer. The highly anticipated motion picture
Hancock, starring popular actor Will Smith, debuted two days ago on July 2 and
so far, the reviews have been going both ways, either praising its entertaining
90 minutes or talking about the idea’s potential, completely lost during the
process.
The movie presents a different kind of superhero, an
arrogant, drunk, cynical, women’s butt-pincher, loud and apparently careless
man with a series of super-human abilities. His name is Hancock, played by
Will Smith, and in addition to everything mentioned above, he also has
some anger management issues which pretty much ruin his chances of popularity
amongst the people in the city.
Even though he attempts to use his powers for
good, he ends up breaking windows, he causes car crashes, destroys buildings,
hurts innocent people and harms animals.
In high demand for a change, Hancock teams up with public
relations expert Ray Embrey, played by Jason Bateman, after saving him from a
collision with a train. Even though Ray’s wife (Charlize Theron) insists on
abandoning his attempts, the PR man decides on helping Hancock resolve his
issues with the media. In order to change the superhero’s extremely miserable
public image, he starts with some new gentle, accident-free landings and a clean
language.
Ray even convinces Hancock to serve a jail sentence for
destruction of public property and once released, sober and shaved, polite and
wearing a brand new leather superhero-like outfit, the police officials request
his help in dealing with the city’s crime.
From this point on, the movie seems to begin losing its
appeal, as the many untied ends are given some quick and rather unsatisfying
answers and the funny moments from its first 60 minutes begin to show less and
less.
One of the explanations for its less than functional
continuity could be the producer’s decision to cut 30 minutes from the movie’s
original two hours, after the screening sessions recorded some negative
responses because of its length.
Of course Hancock entertains; once your leading man flies
through the air and throws whales in the ocean with his bare hands, that’s about
your main target for its release: to entertain. Unfortunately, it could have
done a lot better with just a little more work. Even though it isn’t Will Smith’s
best performance and the movie has certain flaws, it will take your mind, for
about an hour and a half, off the ticket you got for bad parking or the
upcoming work day.
Will Smith, one of the world’s best known actors for his
roles in movies such as Independence Day, Men in Black, Ali, Bad Boys, I Robot
and Hitch is assisted in Hancock by Maetrix Fitten, David Mattey, Eddie Marsan
and Jae Head, in addition to the contributions brought by Jason Bateman (Arrested
Development) and Charlize Theron (The Italian Job, Monster).
The movie received a
PG-13 rating for the language used and also some intense sequences of
violence and sci-fi action. The movie’s director is Peter Berg, best known for
his work on 2007’s The Kingdom.
